Garden Bridge: London Assembly orders TfL to hand over letters | News

Today’s summons (30 November) from the assembly’s oversight committee requires TfL – which is chaired by London mayor Sadiq Khan – to supply it with two letters the transport body was sent last year by Garden Bridge Trust chair Mervyn Davies, a peer and former minister.

The Heatherwick-designed crossing was scrapped in August 2017 before construction began but is still expected to cost the taxpayer £43 million.

The trust is attempting to wind up as a charity but this has been prevented by behind-the-scenes wrangling over the final chunk of public money earmarked for it: a £5.1 million payment set out in an underwriting agreement provided by the Department for Transport (DfT) but ultimately to be paid by TfL.

Speaking today, Labour London Assembly member Tom Copley, who sits on the oversight committee and chairs a new working group examining the scandal, accused TfL of failing to learn the lessons in terms of transparency and accountability.

‘It is jaw-dropping that TfL have not learnt that when it comes to this project, transparency is paramount,’ he said. ‘We expect full co-operation with our continued investigations into the failed Garden Bridge project and will use all of the powers at our disposal to get it.

‘Hiding behind the veil of “commercially sensitive information” won’t wash – when documents can be redacted, if necessary, before we place them in the public domain.’

In addition to the two letters, the summons also covers any notes, texts or social media messages between the parties.

In December, the AJ made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for ‘all written correspondence’ between the trust and key officers at TfL’, but letters sent by Davies in July and September were withheld on the grounds the publication could jeopardise commercial interests or contravene rules on personal data.

In its response to the AJ, TfL also argued it should only have to supply emails and letters that fell into the category of ‘written correspondence’ and said the publication would have to make a fresh FOI request for notes, texts and social media messages.

The London Assembly has become increasingly bullish in issuing summons to TfL in recent months. The chair of its Transport Committee Caroline Pidgeon issued a summons to deputy mayor for transport Heidi Alexander in December requiring documents and witnesses to appear relating to London’s massively-delayed Crossrail project.